Scarlet Sports Shorts

A roundup of athletes and their achievements universitywide

The Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team won the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship on April 5 when guard Tyler Scaife, front row, left, scored with just two seconds left to defeat the University of Texas at El Paso.

Photography:

courtesy of Rutgers Athletics Communications

Dramatic Finish for the Scarlet Knights

The women's basketball team wins the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship.

The Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team won the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship on April 5 when guard Tyler Scaife scored with just two seconds left to defeat the University of Texas at El Paso. Scaife, the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and All-Tournament Team choice, helped Rutgers cap a 28-win season in which the team achieved national rankings for several weeks. She was part of a squad led by sophomore forward and tournament MVP Kahleah Copper and junior forward Betnijah Laney (members of the All-American Athletic Conference teams). In February, the New Jersey State Senate honored head coach C. Vivian Stringer for her 19-year career at Rutgers where she is just the second basketball coach to win 400 games.

David Stern and Fred Hill Retire

After 30 years, David Stern RC’63 retired as commissioner of the National Basketball Association. During his career—in which he guided marquee players such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James—he played a big role in increasing the number of NBA franchises, adding significantly to its revenue, and garnering television exposure in the United States and abroad. He was instrumental in instituting the first antidrug program in professional sports; launching the WNBA and NBA Development League; introducing digital assets, social media, and mobile applications; and creating NBA Cares, a global social-services program. A 1999 inductee into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni, Stern will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August.

Scarlet Knights baseball head coach Fred Hill retired after 30 years, his teams making 11 NCAA regional appearances and winning 12 conference championships and eight tournament titles. Named coach of the year eight times, Hill developed 20 All-Americans and had 72 of his players drafted by Major League Baseball.

How High Can He Fly?

Scarlet Knights redshirt junior Corey Crawford finished second in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and was named a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association First Team All-American for the 2014 indoor season. At the conference championships in March, the Guinness World Records aficionado set a few records of his own: a career-best long jump of 8.22 meters, which topped NCAA charts, placed him in the world rankings and among the best American jumpers … Rutgers University–Camden senior track star Matt Curtis was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for the second straight year by the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

Hoop Dreams in Newark

Rutgers University–Newark men’s basketball team had its third 20-win season under head coach Joe Loughran, and junior guard John Snow was chosen for the 2014 National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Atlantic District first team … Scarlet Raiders women’s basketball junior forward Jade Howard was again a first-team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference choice.

Showered With Praise

Redshirt sophomore, 157-pounder Anthony Perrotti became the 10th All-American in Scarlet Knights history by defeating three ranked foes in a row during the NCAA Wrestling Championships… The New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women named senior soccer midfielder Sarah Kooistra and senior softball outfielder Tina Zaggia as the Rutgers University–Camden’s and Rutgers University–Newark’s Woman of the Year, respectively.